The present disclosure herein relates to a neural electrode for measuring a neural signal and a method for manufacturing the same.
Research has been conducted on the development of materials for improving the performance of neural electrodes in the field of in vivo or in vitro neural interface applications for the purpose of recording neural signals from neurons.
As for neural electrodes, from first-generation electrodes made of a metal wire, such as platinum, gold, tungsten, and iridium to second-generation electrodes made of a semiconductor or multiple arrays, and now third-generation electrodes which have been surface-modified with a nanostructure is being researched and developed as neural electrodes.
In order to assess the state of a nerve more accurately, recording a neural signal per each neuron is essential. To this end, the size of an electrode has been reduced to the size of a neuron (about 10 μm).
In order to maintain effective signal measurement sensitivity while maintaining a small size of a neural electrode, surface area per unit area must be large. To this end, surface modification using nano materials and the like has been attempted.
An increase in surface area may reduce thermal noise through a reduction in impedance, and ultimately may improve a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Meanwhile, in the case of a neural electrode, since the affinity with neurons is very important, not only the nerve affinity of the neural electrode but also the nerve affinity of a neural electrode passivation material is also very important.